ChevelleSSLS6

So, my civic...
I purchased it for $900 off Craigslist so I'd have some cheap reliable transportation. With a motorcycle (57mpg and loads of fun) for the summer and a Jeep that gets 20mpg (not good for visiting the gf- 60 miles round trip) I wanted something cheap to buy, cheap on gas, and reliable. After purchase, I filled it with fuel and then stored it for about a month and a half before finally getting a plate and insurance on it, and ever since it's served me well getting to college and to the gf's house 30 miles away with the rain we've had here in Mich. for the past couple days. So about this little car...

1990 Civic LX sedan, power windows and locks, automatic, older aftermarket cd player, clean interior, solid metal (for Michigan standards) and a hood damaged from the hitch on a pickup truck. It's an unmodified, unmolested stocker, down to it's humble 1.5L engine.



The only problems is that the cruise does not work, and the heater/ac fan does not work. Whether or not the AC works is unknown. Also, it has a little front end shake around 55-60mph just like my gf's dad's Accord. I assume this is due to imbalanced tires.



Just for kicks, I tried to get some tire spinnage in a large empty parking lot. Nope. Not on dry pavement with no dirt on it. I had a buddy wreck a transmission doing this on snow and then hitting pavement back in HS, so I'm not about to get tire spinnage that way, or by doing neutral drops. I'm not trying to kill the thing. Despite it's shortage of power, it's a loveable little car. It handles very well, sporty actually, despite rolling on tiny wheels, skinny nonmatching, non performance tires, and driving the wrong set of wheels for anything that could be described as sporty.






...
I did finally get some wheel spinnage, helps to have rain and the 'stop line' tape stuff at intersections gets really slippery when wet. Still, I did better with a lawn tractor I got for free one winter when I took it out onto hard packed (almost ice) roads. In summary, this engine has minimal performance potential unless it's in a gokart. That's okay, as this car was built to be cheap reliable transportation, and so far it's done a great job for me.

Here's some specs on the fuel sipping engine.
* Displacement : 1493 cm³
* Bore and stroke : 75 mm X 84.5 mm
* Compression : 9.2:1
* Power : 92 hp @ 6000 rpm & 88 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
* Valvetrain : SOHC (4 valves per cylinder)

Also, a pic of my gf washing her stock 1997 Civic LX.


edit:
What's going to happen to this car, if I'm not going to turbo it or whatever? I'll do some basic maintenance (tranny fluid and filter, ps fluid, etc), but first... I'll take a compression test (atmosphereic psi x compression ratio= 14x9.2= 128psi) and see what the readings are. Then, I'll see how much good a can of Restore does. There's a ton of debate going on at this other message board I go to (www.hotrodders.com) and thought I'd find some answers. After that, I'm going to do inexpensive mods to increase mpg and see what I can get out of it. I'm open to suggestions as to what I should do. My driving is pretty consistent with this car, and I'll use shell 87 octane for the sake of consistency.


Modified by ChevelleSSLS6 at 9:50 PM 9/4/2008


Modified by ChevelleSSLS6 at 9:52 PM 9/4/2008

Glen Tennis

Cool, can't wait

D16SiHatch

good stuff man. always nice to see another Honda lover

beige89civic

Very clean car! Esp for $900. I bought my ED for $800 and it was no where near as clean when I bought it as yours! It is now but before it wasn't. I'm here in Colorado where rust isn't a big issue due to the dryness and mine is slightly more rusted. (We use Magnesium Chloride when it snows not salt like the NE,Midwest). So I'd consider that a very good purchase. I'd keep it all stock if I were you! If you had a Manual you'd get a little better mpg, but I love automatic transmissions. I too know hood damage, the previous owner before me had a truck back into the hood and it looks like it was punched in the face! My highest mpg out of my car is 47mpg. what about yours?

ChevelleSSLS6

39mpg so far. The weld at the flange from the cat to the exhaust pipe broke, and the cat was dragging all around for a couple days. I fixed that and ended up having to drive it straightpiped "mad vtec power" as I jokingly describe it, to the welding shop for a little work that was needed. Anyway, I got it all done so it doesn't give me a headache and have pics and stuff that I'll upload here hopefully soon!

I do think it has a stuck lifter, and it's the noisiest thing on the car, lol! I don't mind it though.

edit: I was thinking a freer flowing air intake would help mpg since this would reduce pumping losses. It has a 1 7/8" exhaust (or 2" outside diameter) exhaust up until it gets back by the muffler, or after the muffler where it's the tiny peashooter pipe. But for normal driving I think it's ok considering the size of the engine, and they need a little backpressure anyway.


Modified by ChevelleSSLS6 at 7:05 AM 9/12/2008

ChevelleSSLS6

1500ccs of well worn Honda engine


pipe between downpipe and cat before I modified it; there is no 'ball flange' just ahead of the cat anymore with those funny springy bolts, and I couldn't get any flanges (just normal triangular header flanges) but the springy bolt/flange setup is still at the end of the downpipe going to this precat pipe to maintain flexibility.


careful sawzall work got the outer pipe section out. Not enough of the 2" exhaust pipe would fit in there to clamp it, so I had to take it to a welder.


$20 (because galvanized metals release toxic fumes when welding) and 45 minutes later, this is the new adapter pipe for a universal cat or muffler or whatever, depending on laws and if your civic is prepped for race only duties or street legal.

I ended up trimming the 'adapter pipe' down a bit to fit the exhaust all together, and the factory cat was unusable with rusted in bolts and having its guts rattled around worse than a kid after eating a big meal and riding down a dirt road in a radio flyer.


A video of it, when the cat was dragging around for a couple days. I didn't drive it long with it straightpiped, but it wasn't much faster... but the 1.5s weren't built for speed, so that's ok. Oh yea, I'm being a dork in the video.

beige89civic

Adjust your valve lash.There are no lifters. just rockers. 0.009" on exhaust vavles and 0.007" on intakes I do believe. Nice weld job though.

Jolly Green King

Good Luck

ChevelleSSLS6

Thank you. I have adjusting valve lash is planned before the snow flies here in MI, I'd like to get it running like it's supposed to before I put many more miles on it. I also have an oil change planned as well.

Since my last update, I have used rubberized undercoating in an attempt to 'seal in' rust to slow down/stop the corrosion process that claims so many autos here in MI, newer ones like my civic and the gf's car (typical Honda above the rear wheel rust) and classics alike. I'm not into cosmetics a whole lot right now since it's too cold for filler to properly cure, so for a temporary fix for the winter, I used a combination of expand-o-foam and rubberized undercoating in another attempt to stop the cancer. Next summer I might perform a proper repair, but my Jeep has some mechanical needs after 206k miles, and the function comes before the form for me.









I also did the inside of the trunk... it drips water when I open the trunk, but otherwise it's always dry, and rust free/hole free too. Also on the rust holes, I applied lost count coats, I just redid it over and over until it was smooth, and there was no ways for salt/water to get in and eat my car.

I do have some bad news for this little guy, the hood flew open on me on the way to my gf's house. I was able to use the hole in the hood from when a truck backed into it to tie a power cord I had so I could hold the hood down. First I used some bungee cords, then I used cinch straps. Battlescars from many miles of daily driving, I guess.

f-it3

maybe a little late to say Welcome, but Welcome, I am a fellow sedan owner as well and I love it to death.

nihad

iTrader: (2)

ummmmm

traxxasx

ChevelleSSLS6

sorry no updates in forever

I'll post more pics of the gf up if someone sends me a fuel pump (the whole fricken assembly) from a 1996 Jeep Cherokee, as they don't have the assembly at any auto parts store I go to... must be an oddball year with the introduction of obd2.

holy crap that's old school...

so where did you guys find this on me? crazy stuff guys.